The
floss silk tree (
Ceiba speciosa, formerly
Chorisia speciosa), is a species of
deciduousDeciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
native to the tropical and subtropical forests of
South AmericaSouth America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere...
. It has a host of local common names, such as
palo borracho (in
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
literally "drunken tree"). It belongs to the same family as the
baobabAdansonia is a genus containing eight species of trees, native to Madagascar , mainland Africa and Australia . The mainland African species also occurs on Madagascar, but it is not a native of that island....
and the
kapokKapok is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae , native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and to tropical west Africa. The word is also used for the fibre obtained from its seed pods...
. Another tree of the
Ceiba genus,
C. chodatii, often receives the same common names.
The natural habitat of the floss silk tree is the north-east of
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
,
ParaguayParaguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay , is one of the two landlocked countries which lie entirely within the Western Hemisphere, the other being Bolivia, both in South America....
, and southern
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
. It is resistant to
droughtA drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
and moderate cold. It grows fast in spurts when water is abundant, and sometimes reaches more than 25
mThe metre or meter is the basic unit of length in the International System of Units . Historically, the metre was defined by the French Academy of Sciences as the length between two marks on a platinum-iridium bar, which was designed to represent one ten-millionth of the distance from the Equator...
in height. Its
trunkTrunk may refer to:In biology:*Trunk, torso*Trunk, an elephant's proboscis or nose*Trunk , a tree's central superstructureIn containers:*Trunk *Trunk , a large storage compartment...
is bottle-shaped, generally bulging in its lower third, measuring up to 2 m in girth. It is studded with thick conical
prickleIn biology, spine or spiny may refer to:*Spine , needle-like structures in plants*Spine , needle-like structures in animalsSpine may also refer to:*Vertebral column, spine in anatomy, the backbone...
s which serve to store water for dry times. In younger trees, the trunk is green due to its high
chlorophyllChlorophyll is a green pigment found in most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Its name is derived from the Greek χλωρός and φύλλον...
content, which makes it capable of performing
photosynthesisPhotosynthesis is a process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of Bacteria, but not in Archaea...
when leaves are absent; with age it turns to gray.
The
branchA branch or tree branch is a woody structural member connected to but not part of the central trunk of a tree...
es tend to be horizontal and are also covered with prickles. The
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
are composed of five to seven long leaflets.
The
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
s are creamy-whitish in the center and pink towards the tips of their five petals. They measure 10-15
cmA centimetre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one hundredth of a metre, which is the current SI base unit of length. Centi is the SI prefix for a factor of...
in diameter and their shape is not unlike
hibiscusHibiscus is a genus of plants with member species often noted for their showy flowers and commonly known as hibiscus or less widely as rosemallow or flor de Jamaica. This large genus includes about 200–220 species of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae native to warm, temperate,...
flowers. Their nectar is known to attract insects such as
monarch butterfliesThe Monarch is a milkweed butterfly , in the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871 where it is called the Wanderer...
, which perform
pollinationPollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in plants, thereby enabling fertilization and sexual reproduction. Pollen grains, which contain the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself...
.
C. speciosa flowers are in bloom between February and May. The flowers of the related
C. chodatii are similar in form and size, but their color goes from creamy white centers to yellow tips.
The
fruitThe term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from...
s are lignous ovoid pods, 20 cm long, which contain bean-sized black
seedA seed , referred to as a kernel in some plants, is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s surrounded by a mass of fibrous, fluffy matter reminiscent of
cottonCotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa. The fiber most often is spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft,...
or
silkSilk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons made by the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
.
Uses
The "cotton" inside the fruit pods, although not of as good quality as kapok, has been used as stuffing for pillows and thermic insulation at times.
The
woodWood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of trees . In a living tree it transfers water and nutrients to the leaves and other growing tissues, and has a support function, enabling woody plants to reach large sizes or to stand up for themselves...
of this tree is light (
relative densityRelative density, sometimes called specific mass or specific gravity, is the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity usually means relative density with respect to water...
= 0.27
gThe gram , ; symbol g, is a unit of mass.Originally defined as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to the cube of the hundredth part of a metre, and at the temperature of melting ice" , a gram is now defined as one one-thousandth of the SI base unit, the kilogram, or...
/
cm³A cubic centimetre or cubic centimeter is a commonly used unit of volume extending the derived SI-unit cubic metre and corresponds to the volume of a cube measuring 1×1×1 cm...
), soft and flexible, and is employed in packaging, to make
canoeA canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes usually are pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over .In its human-powered form, the canoe is propelled by the use of...
s, as
wood pulpPulp is a dry fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating fibers from wood, fiber crops or waste paper.Pulp can be either fluffy or formed into thick sheets. The latter form is used if the pulp must be transported from the pulp mill to a paper mill...
to make
paperPaper is thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
, and in ropes. From the seeds it is possible to obtain vegetable oil (both edible and industrially useful).
The floss silk tree is cultivated mostly for ornamental purposes. Outside of private gardens around the world, it is often planted along urban streets.
Ceiba speciosa is added to some versions of the hallucinogenic drink
AyahuascaAyahuasca is any of various psychoactive infusions or decoctions prepared from the Banisteriopsis spp. vine, usually mixed with the leaves of dimethyltryptamine-containing species of shrubs from the Psychotria genus...
.
General references